ZINEDINE ZIDANE

TEAMS PLAYED FOR
 
Real Madrid (Spain): 2001 - 2006
Juventus (Italy): 1996 - 2001
Bordeaux (France): 1992 - 1996
Cannes (France): 1987 - 1992

BIO

Zinedine “Zizou” Zidane (full name Zinedine Yazid Zidane) was born on June 23, 1972 in Marseille, France.  Zidane’s family is originally from Algeria.  His parents immigrated to France in 1953 and settled in Marseille.  Zidane is the youngest in the family of five children.     

CLUB CAREER

When Zinedine was a kid, school was not his strongest asset.  Instead he preferred to play soccer with his friends.  Eventually Zidane started playing for soccer teams from various districts of Marseille.  During one of the youth games, he was noticed by a scout from team Cannes and was invited for a trial.  One year later, Zizou makes his debut with the club's senior squad in the French First Division.  All together Zidane spent 4 years at the team scoring 6 goals and eventually being sold to Bordeaux in 1992.
After reaching the UEFA Cup final with Bordeaux, Zidane caught the attention of the Italian powerhouse, Juventus who signed him for 3 million euros.  At Juventus his talent and hard work started to pay off and the titles poured in.  During the five years spent in Torino, Zizou won every tournament played including Seria A, Italian Super Cup and European Cup. 
In 2001, Zidane was transferred to Real Madrid of Spain for 66 million euro, the world record at that time.  In the 2001/02 season, the Frenchman leads Real Madrid to Champions League glory by scoring a spectacular winning goal in the final.

NATIONAL TEAM CAREER

       

The first game for French National Team Zidane played in 1994 when he came out as a substitute in a friendly game against the Czech Republic.  France was losing 0:2 in that game but Zizou scored two goals to tie the game.  In his career, Zidane played in three World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006) and three European Championships (1996, 2000, 2004), however the biggest success in his career came during 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship. 
During 1998 World Cup in France, Zizou was the leader of the team and scored two goals in the final against Brazil.  While playing and winning 2000 European Championship, Zidane was voted the best player of the tournament and was considered the best midfielder on the planet by many experts. 
2006 World Cup was very disappointing for the Frenchman.  He did not play well in the first two games of the group stage and earned a yellow card in each of them.  Having missed the third game of the group stage due to suspension, Zidane started playing well in the knock-out stages.  He scored the winning goal in the semi-final against Portugal and a penalty kick in the final against Italy.  With ten minutes to go in the overtime, Zidane was red carded for head butting Italian Marco Materazzi in the chest, following verbal taunts from the Italian player.  That was the last professional soccer game Zidane played in his career. 

PERSONAL INFO

Zinedine Zidane is married and has four sons.  He currently works for Real Madrid and is engaged in many charity projects.

       

TITLES AND AWARDS

Bordeaux

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1995

Juventus

Serie A: 1997, 1998

Italian Super Cup: 1997

European Super Cup: 1996

Intercontinental Cup: 1996

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1999

Real Madrid

La Liga: 2003

Spanish Super Cup: 2001, 2003

UEFA Champions League: 2002

European Super Cup: 2002

Intercontinental Cup: 2002

International

FIFA World Cup: 1998

UEFA European Championship: 2000

Ballon D’or: 1998

Onze D’or: 1998, 2000, 2001

FIFA World Player of the Year: 1998, 2000, 2003

FIFA 100

FRANCO BARESI

TEAMS PLAYED FOR
 
AC Milan (Italy): 1977 – 1997

BIO

Franco Baresi was born on May 8, 1960 in Travagliato, province of Brescia, Italy.  Since his early childhood, Franco loved AC Milan and always wanted to play for the team.  He is one of the few players on the planet who has spent his entire career playing at one club.


CLUB CAREER

After a few trials at other teams including Inter Milan, Franco arrived at Milanello in 1974, at the age of 14. He actually had three trials at the team, and only after the third trial, he was admitted.  Franco was one of those players that didn’t look very impressive physically compared to what you would expect from a central defender. He usually operated as a sweeper behind the defensive line, and controlled the pace of the game from there. He read the game impressively well, which was the main reason to why he was so outstanding. 
Baresi played his first game for AC Milan in 1978 against Verona which the team won 2:1.  That season Bresi was not featured a lot in the line-up, however the next year he became team regular player. 
Baresi led the Milan team and its defense for the best part of a decade; a period during which Milan's defense was considered by many observers to be one of the best back fours in the history of football, consisting of Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Constacurta and Mauro Tassotti.

NATIONAL TEAM CAREER

It took some time for him to break into the national team because Enzo Bearzot, the coach at the time, preferred the Juventus trio Cabrini, Gentile and Scirea in defence. The latter occupied the sweeper’s position in the World Cup winning team of 1982. Baresi was included in that squad, but never played a minute in Spain which he didn’t like. He then rejected to play for Italy as long as Bearzot was in charge which made him miss the 1986 World Cup. Bearzot then retired and Baresi once again said yes to the Azzurri. Italy reached the semifinals at Euro 88, Franco’s first tournament with Italy, and another semifinal in their own World Cup in 1990. Italy lost to Argentina on penalties, but beat England in the bronze match.

Baresi was captain when Italy traveled to America for the World Cup in 1994. At 34, he knew this was his last chance to win the World Cup, but an injury in the first round against Norway made him miss several matches and he wasn’t ready until the final against Brazil, where he played the game of his life. Brazil eventually won on penalties and Franco missed one of the penalties for Italy. It was his 81st and final match for Italy.

PERSONAL INFO

Because Baresi’s achievements, AC Milan played a tribute to the player by retiring his jersey number 6.  No player in the future will ever wear that jersey at Milan.  Played in 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. 

       

TITLES AND AWARDS

AC Milan

Serie A: 1979, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996

Italian Supercup: 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994

Mitropa Cup: 1982

UEFA Champions League: 1989, 1990, 1994

Intercontinental Cup: 1989, 1990

European Super Cup: 1989, 1990, 1994

International

FIFA World Cup: 1982

FIFA 100

ROBERTO BAGGIO

TEAMS PLAYED FOR
 
Brescia (Italy): 2000 – 2004
Inter Milan (Italy): 1998 – 2000
Bologna (Italy): 1997 – 1998
AC Milan (Italy): 1995 – 1997
Juventus (Italy): 1990 – 1995
Fiorentina (Italy): 1985 – 1990
Vicenza (Italy): 1982 - 1985

BIO

Roberto Baggio was born on February 8, 1967 in a small town of Caldogno, Italy.  He started playing soccer from the early age, and almost immediately people around him saw the beginning glimpses of a natural born striker.  When he was 9 years old his childhood team coach recognized his attacking skills and immediately started playing him up front.  In one of the games, Roberto scored 6 goals and was immediately noticed by the scouts of the local third division team, Vicenza.      

CLUB CAREER

Vicenza became Baggio’s first professional team with whom the boy signed a contract when he turned 14.  His first salary was around $170 per month.  The first two years, Roberto spent on the bench, however in 1984/1985 season his 12 goals helped the team secure the promotion to the second division, Serie B.  Baggio himself was sent directly to Fiorentina, one of the Serie A powerhouses.  Roberto spent 5 years ar Fiorentina and during his years there, he rose to cult status among the team's fans who still consider him to be one of their best ever players.  His most successful season at Fiorentina was his last season in 1990 when the team went as fat as the final of the UEFA Cup where they lost to another Italian team, Juventus. 
After seeing Baggio play in the final and throughout the season, Juventus management could not let the played to be snatched out by a different club.  After the UEFA Cup final, they made Fiorentina an offer that they could not refuse - $17 million.  Baggio’s transfer to Juve was accompanied by the mass riots in the streets of Florence.  Fiorentina’s fans could not forgive the team management for selling their talisman player. 
At Juventus Baggio continued performing at the highest level.  This is where he won his first scudetto and UEFA Cup.  After five years at Juve Baggio was sold to AC Milan where he won another Scudetto in his first year, hence becoming the first player to win the Scudetto in consecutive years with two different clubs.
During his time at AC Milan, the team suffered from player misbalance and coaching change.  As a result, after just two years, Baggio was transferred to Bologna, where according to himself, he had one of the best seasons in his life. Later on Baggio played for Inter Milan and Brescia where he finished his career in 2004.

NATIONAL TEAM CAREER

Roberto Baggio player in three World Cups – 1990, 1994, 1998 – and is the only Italian player to score in all three tournaments.  With total 9 goals in the World Cup, Baggio is the scoring leader along with Christian Vieri and Paolo Rossi.  

PERSONAL INFO

When Roberto was 16 years old, the doctors discovered that he was allergic to certain medications.  This allergy never allowed Baggio to heal completely from his injuries and he had to deal with the pain throughout his career.  According to him, the only things that kept him going was Buddhism and incredible love for the game.  The most important person in Baggio’s life is his wife Adreanna with whom he has been together since the age of 15. They have daughter Valentina and son Mattia.  Roberto is the 6^th of 8 brothers.  Nicknamed “The Divine Ponytail” because of his hair style.

       

TITLES AND AWARDS

Fiorentina

UEFA Cup (runner-up): 1990

Juventus

Serie A: 1995

Coppa Italia: 1995

UEFA Cup: 1993

AC Milan

Serie A: 1996

Bologna

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1998

International

FIFA World Cup: runner-up 1994, 3^rd place 1990

FIFA World Player of the Year: 1993

UEFA Player of the Year: 1993

FIFA 100